Hi everyone.

We're about to start the fifth session of our campaign and the DM told us we're getting to level 3. I'm playing my first sorcerer and realise now picking spells is not just important but crucial. After reading tons, I come here for help and suggestions.

Here is the character: https://www.dndbeyond.com/profile/SwissRPG/characters/7501160

The concept of the character is a smuggler who (through a failed experiment) has a brass dragon soul trapped in him. The soul influences him in various ways, one of which is his affinity to fire magic.

Some things to know:

• I rolled quite well for my stats so got a +5 on Charisma already. Neat.
• I intend to pick the Elemental Adept feat at level 4 to avoid common fire resistances. I could be convinced otherwise though.
• Quite a decent AC and HP as well so getting close once in a while would be OK.
• My focus magic-wise is to go for a pool of fire damage spells to cover most situations. I would also like a variety of spells good for social situations and buff/debuff/support. But I'd like to keep at least one non-fire attack spell (like Chromatic Orb) for those fire immune monsters.
• There is a Druid in our party so it's OK to avoid spells from the druid class (like Detect Magic). We are the only spellcasters in the party.

At level 3, I'm going to pick two new spells (drop Comprehend Language) and Metamagic.

My plan so far:

• pick Subtle Spell for a the social situations.
• Pick Empower or Twinned. I realize Empower is the preferred choice for most as it's cheap and great value, but thematically, I really like the idea of Twinned spells for double Haste or other buffs. I wouldn't be able to use that much until level 5, but I'm not sure I want to wait until level 10 for this. Thoughts?
• Pick Scorching Ray and Suggestion at level 3.

The advice I'd like most is on what fire spells I should take as I level up so I have a good array of damage spells that cover most combat situations. I find it tricky to pick the right single targets and AOE spells. Especially considering I need to keep low level ones for when spell slots are scarce. Also casting at higher levels is another consideration. If you could suggest me which spells to get at each levels, that would be super useful.

Also if you have suggestions for a good combination of non combat spells, that would be great. Suggestion and any other social spells fit the character well. I'm thinking to get Blindness at level 4, then replace it with Haste. Counterspell seems like a must, but I also like Phantasmal Force, Hypnotic Pattern.

Thanks a lot for the help.

If you have access to Xanathar's Guide, I would highly recommend Melf's Minute Meteors. It's a Lv3 spell that not only allows you to productively use your bonus action but can also be used as either crowd-control or single removal, with use of higher level slots allowing for more meteors. It does require concentration though, so if you'll have to decide whether you want to keep this up or Haste your friends.

Also in Xanathar's Guide is Pyrotechnics. A nifty Lv2 spell, when combined with Subtle Spell, I've used it to great effect when in stealthy situations. It's always funny when the torch a roaming guards has "suddenly" starts producing unusually large amounts of smoke, or when a bar suddenly darkens, allowing for a few cheeky spells to hit some d-bag that has been annoying the group. Plus the flavour is nice.

Also, you probably want Twinned Spell over Empowered Spell. I've just found it more useful, being able to deal average damage to two enemies than dealing slightly more damage to one enemy. Plus you can also double Haste.

Finally, Elemental Adapt is always a good choice for Dragon Sorcs.

But that's just my 5 cents.

My opinion is that you’ll want to keep a couple of AoE spells on hand so that you can target multiple opponents. Druids are great with control, buff, and debuff spells but their AoE and damage spells are limited. Haste is one of the great buff spells that they don’t have though, so it’s a great choice for you.

I agree that Twin Spell is a great choice for you, but I’d make sure that you have one single target spell at every level and Scorching Ray targets multiple opponents unfortunately. Tasha’s Hideous Laughter is a great candidate for Twin Spell to me, it’s one of the best single target low level debuff spells but the target gets an immediate save and a save every round which is it’s one weakness. Targeting 2 opponents makes it much more valuable!

Think about Levitate believe it or not. It’s great for you to avoid melee, it’s great for lifting an opponent, or 2 opponents with Twin Spell, up so that they can’t get into melee and you can use them for target practice, and it’s great for exploration too. It’s a multi purpose spell which is nice when you have a small number of spells to pick from.

in my experience you’ll never have the right mix of spells available. I know that I never do, but I always have something available that’s useful and let’s me contribute. 

I find the metamagic feat "Quickened Spell" to be really useful in pumping up your damage output in crucial situations. Usually you can only cast a spell and a cantrip in the same round if one is a bonus action, but with Quickened Spell you could cast a spell and a cantrip in the same round even though they're each an action, not a bonus action. 

So, getting to throw a few extra Fire Bolts or Poison Sprays in a big fight can really help bring down the enemy in a hurry. 

Also... kudos for grabbing Elemental Adept! Great feat! 

Scorching Ray is definitely bread & butter.

Mirror Image will help you keep your unarmored butt alive all the way to the end of the fight. And it also provides the enemy with more targets to aim at, possibly saving a fellow party member from being targeted for a round or two. 

Ice Knife puts out great damage for a level 1 spell, possibly even hitting multiple targets at once.